{"id":39152,"date":"2023-11-02T18:33:38","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T22:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=39152"},"modified":"2023-11-02T19:05:22","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T23:05:22","slug":"all-about-womens-sports-the-las-vegas-aces-are-back-to-back-wnba-champions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2023\/11\/02\/all-about-womens-sports-the-las-vegas-aces-are-back-to-back-wnba-champions\/","title":{"rendered":"All About Women’s Sports: The Las Vegas Aces Are Back-To-Back WNBA Champions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photograph by Ian Maule\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n

By Claire Guest<\/em><\/p>\n

The Las Vegas Aces recently defeated the New York Liberty to win their second consecutive
\nWomen\u2019s National Basketball Association (WNBA) title on Wednesday, Oct. 18.<\/p>\n

Las Vegas was the No. 1 ranked team entering the playoffs and lived up to their ranking,
\nsweeping the Chicago Sky 2-0, then completing a 3-0 victory over the Dallas Wings. Their one
\nloss in the playoffs came in the final series when they lost game 3 to the Liberty after dominating
\ngames 1 and 2.<\/p>\n

The Aces became the first team to win back-to-back titles since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001
\nand 2002.<\/p>\n

The Aces assembled a formidable “super team” from the outset of the season, but still faced
\nmany challenges, including during the playoffs.<\/p>\n

In the third game of the final series, the Aces lost two of their important starters, Chelsea Gray,
\nreferred to as the \u201cPoint Gawd,\u201d and Kiah Stokes, a defensive specialist. Gray and Stokes
\nsustained foot injuries and were unable to play what became the final game.<\/p>\n

Candace Parker, a two-time MVP and three-time champion, signed with the Aces at the
\nbeginning of the 2023 season. However, Parker missed the second half of the season after
\nrequiring foot surgery in July.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photograph by AP Photo\/Frank Franklin II<\/p>\n

Brenna Stewart, New York\u2019s top player and runner-up in the championship, won the regular-
\nseason MVP award, with Connecticut Sun star Alyssa Thomas placing second. A\u2019ja Wilson, Las
\nVegas Aces forward, finished third, just 13 points separated Stewart and Wilson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThird in MVP voting? Okay. Rest on that,\u201d the Las Vegas Aces Head Coach Becky Hammon
\nsaid. \u201cIt\u2019s a joke,\u201d according to Just Womens Sports.<\/p>\n

However, Wilson won the Finals MVP award this playoffs, after averaging 23.8 points and 11.8
\nrebounds per game.<\/p>\n

Lebron James gifted Wilson with a custom pair of his own shoes before game 1 of the final
\nseries. The shoes quickly went viral, yet many were left wondering when Wilson would get her
\nown signature shoes.<\/p>\n

Hammon said, \u201cshe needs her own shoe. She is the two-time MVP. I\u2019ll toot her horn because she
\nwon\u2019t. Olympic gold medalist, best defensive player two years running, her team\u2019s (success)\u2026
\nStop. Stop,\u201d according to Just Womens Sports.<\/p>\n

James posted on social media regarding A\u2019ja Wilson\u2019s MVP performance, \u201cher own signature
\nshoe,\u201d according to Just Womens Sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photograph by Ian Maule\/NBAE via Getty Images By Claire Guest The Las Vegas Aces recently defeated the New York Liberty to win their second consecutive Women\u2019s National Basketball Association (WNBA) title on Wednesday, Oct. 18. Las Vegas was the No. 1 ranked team entering the playoffs and lived up to their ranking, sweeping the Chicago […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21488,"featured_media":39154,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1024,1035,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39152"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21488"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39152"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39158,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39152\/revisions\/39158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}